Fun Friends

On Wed I drove the short distance from Willow Springs to the Bar M TH to wait for Charlie & Teresa. Like clock work Charlie pulled up next to me. No, forgot, I drove up to Horse Thief XG to check out campsites. Only 1 campsite occupied. I picked 2 and paid for them then drove down to Bar M. Great to share time together. Charlie and Teresa are European and US travelers. We get to spend several days together riding, camping, and sharing stories.

On Wed we rode a loop of Bar M trails w/ Long Branch and Deadman’s included. Charlie is more skilled than I am; at times I followed his line and mimicked his effort which helped me ride. Beautiful day. Bar M trails are very good. I learned @ Chili Pepper that tourons shopping for a ride that they are sent here. The parking lot had maybe 30 vehicles, we shared the trails w/ very few riders. We rode the techy Deadmans and Long Branch.

At ride’s end I left for a shower in town. They have a shower in their truck camper. I made Horse Thief as a colorful red sunset was lighting up the sky. We chatted and laughed until late.

Thurs our plan was to ride the Mag 7 trails just up the road. Our dessert for finishing the ride was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that Teresa prepared. I shuttled us to the start. We rode Bull Canyon, Little Canyon, great escape, completing on new Getaway trail. Another great challenging mixed slick rock trail. Again Charlie visually helped me. Drop dead gorgeous day.

We finished the single track then peddled a road climb back to van. We drove back to the camp ground. Shortly Teresa laid out a feast. It was a bring your own eating service. Scrumptious dinner.

Teresa fixed pumpkin pie that required whipped cream. They said they had never succeeded in making whipped cream at elevation. teresa’s meal was all scratch made, we had canned whipped cream as a back up. I broke out whipping cream and an egg beater. I shared the whirring task. I was last turner that succeeded in making whipped cream. Another late night of chatting.

Friday we chose Amasa Back for our ride as there are some new trails. First was my laundry in town. Clean clothes w/ 6 rides worth of wet clothes hanging up inside my van. We drove out Cane Creek rd to a motorized TH instead of driving a bit further up the road. We gear5ed up and headed out. At the heart propelled TH turned out to be plugged. many people were looking up towards a cliff face. We learned that a BASE jump would be happening. A jumper would step off the lip 389′ above the road. He would have 1 to 2 seconds free fall b4 he pulled the cord. The first chute out was the main canopy opening chute. When the main chute snapped open a loud pop was heard. We watched 3 jumpers successfully land on the road. Not that many people would be watching our ride. Amasa Back starts out as a jeep trail w/ a few tech features that we walked. Our route was out to Pothole Arch on a new official trail. Mixed ST w/ slick rock.

Then out on the slick rock swell:

We made the arch. Rockstacker is a new trail leading off the mesa. It is has several I will have careful climb downs where way more skilled riders rode. Serious consequences if a miscalculation is made. I didn’t take any pics. The trail intersected Jackson and a climb back to jeep trail. Previously C & T had ridden Jackson when it was an unofficial trail as a result was very sketchy. The trail is now a legal trail and much work has taken place. Hairy descent w/ lots of exposure above the CO river.

Back @ TH I split back to town for a shower. We ended up camping on Willow Springs rd. This old desert road used to be the entrance to Arches NP, writer Ed Abbey used to live off this road. T fed me leftovers. I made one of my dinners to share to exhibit my skills.

Sunday C & T split for a hike in Arches. I drove back down to Bar M for an easy ride. Parking lot had about 30 rigs. Great to see lots of riders riding their bikes. I just poked along learning handling skills.

Afterwards I drove back to town for a shower, propane, diesel, h2o groceries, and a chain. Plan is to return to Willow Springs then tomorrow meet up w/ C & T @ N end of Klondike for a ride.

I am planning on helping on trail work on Mon out here off Willow Springs then heading over to Hurricane.

My Dad’s health is having a tough go. I called him T-day AM to wish happiness and recovery. He was able to speak a thank you.